Wild flowers

This year's new project (ta-da!) is to extend the biodiversity of the plot with patches of wild flowers at the top of the two beds.

One will be a pictorial meadows mix (from Chase Organics) which includes Shirley poppy, Californian poppy, cornflower, fairy toadflax, red flax, bishop's flower, tickseed, corn marigold, black-eyed susan, red orache and larkspur. This is the mix developed by Dr Nigel Dunnett at the University of Sheffield and which adorns many of the highway verges and open spaces up there. Whilst not all strictly wild flowers it should look pretty good if all goes to plan. I'll be sowing them direct once the soil's warmed up and I've hoed off the first flush of weed seedlings.

The other patch will be a cornfield mix (from Chiltern Seeds) which includes pheasants eye, corn cockle, night-flowering catchfly and field poppy. The packet says to sow these direct but the website recommends sowing in pots and planting out later so that's what I've done, starting them off in the coldframe. I've also started some common flax, white campion, devils-bit scabious and ox-eye daisies in modules and seed trays to add to the mix.